Ball of Nothing

Penelope was about to use another acid spray on Zero when she saw what the elf was doing and froze in the middle of her attack. Those were...those were her children's corpses!

Indeed, Zero started to bring them out from his inventory and used them to form a huge wall in front of him. The dungeon does not recognise a corpse from the dungeon if an adventurer brought it out of the dungeon and back again but Penelope recognised her children instantly. These unfortunate spiders might just be a vessel for the countless trapped souls under the dungeon's command but to her, they were broodlings she hatched and protected from the days they were mere eggs. The memories of how Penelope painstakingly murdered stray creatures and adventurers to nurture them successfully into adulthood made her cry. Unfortunately, she was just a spider and no tears flowed.

It didn't matter, this elf's blood would flow in place of her missing tears! Even if she was at a natural disadvantage against such a powerful magician, she would take him down or die trying. The message had already been relayed to the other two dungeon generals and the dungeon master, it was only a matter of time before her revenge was taken. One should never underestimate the love a mother has for her children and today, this elf will learn at the price of his life!

Zero heard a scream before Penelope activated her Intimidation skill and started hurling webs all around Zero. Her children were not idle either and quickly got into a complicated formation that made Zero unable to keep his eyes on everything going around. They seem to know about his limited dark vision radius and stayed out of it, forcing Zero closer towards using his magic.

The doctor absorbed all the webs thrown his way and his mind was made up. He had to recruit this spider monster. She would make a great addition to Half Moon Village. These webs were light and soft but tough as steel, it was the perfect building material for the fortification of the village. It was also imbued with magical properties that could fetch a handsome price or make good cloth armour for the non-combatant villagers.

Who could have expected such a discovery in the middle of the desert? Zero felt his blood pump. He was thrilled to meet such an opponent.

Penelope gave the doctor no chance for rest. Zero should be semi-petrified by now even if he had magic resistance. Three of her eight eyes were blinded from the overuse of the Intimidation skill but Penelope didn't relent. She wanted this elf dead.

Zero shook a spider off his arm as their fangs tried to dig into his tracksuit. Although he wasn't harmed, Zero cringed at the smell that the dead spider now emitted. That was acid and poison mixed with its saliva. They were trying to take him down with numbers and the corpses were not working.

Zero decided to go all in. Ever s[ider that jumped on him, every web thrown his way and every corpse he came across, he would store them into his main inventory. Mii and Wii worked hard acting as his eyes and hands while Zero withdrew YY Tonfas.

"Lily, tell Zoe that I'm going to subjugate a spider monster and send them a bunch of things to dismantle and sell. I'm forcing a contract on Penelope, we need this weaver in our village."

Lily didn't dare to disobey her master because Zeo sounded dead serious. The clash between tonfas and hairy legs could be heard. Zero's weapons were divine grade but his physical strength was lacking. Penelope felt the pain as they collided but she didn't back down. Even if he cut her leg off, she still had seven more. Besides, back up was on the way. The Scorpion Ghoul King was coming down from the upper floor to assist her.

With a mighty shove, Penelope flung Zero backwards with a flick of her leg. The elf stood no chance at defending against brute force and collided into the dungeon bedrock wall. Zero felt his head spin a little and was disoriented for a while. The clothes might have magic enchantments but they did nothing to protect Zero's vessel from pure physical damage. Thankfully, he was made sturdy enough and Zero quickly circulated qi to increase his recovery speed.

Penelope wasted no time. Seeing that the elf stopped moving, she charged forward and raised her scythe-like legs to cut him down. No matter how powerful mages were, they were ultimately still weak to physical attacks. This adventurer was no different.

With a dangerous killing intent looming over him, Zero reacted on instinct. After training with Ruth, Mitchnew and Amon for a while, the art of self-reservation was instilled in him to escape whenever there was danger aimed his way. He dodged to the side even though his eyes were still not focussed and his body was still aching. He should have broken his spine back there and would most likely be dead if not for the vessel's inhuman ability to recover from anything and regenerate as long as Zero had resources in his inventory to use.

The dungeon wall was sliced like butter behind Zero where he previously lay. Penelope was stuck. She had a hard time getting her leg out of that bedrock and the dungeon was starting to repair itself with her leg still in the crack.

Zero saw that as a chance and readied his tonfas once more. He wasn't fully recovered but it was enough for him to move. Mustering all the adrenaline he had, Zero let out a battle cry of his own before running straight into Penelope's huge abdomen.

The spider queen wasn't going to let that happen. No matter what, she couldn't let Zero harm her unborn babies. With a sharp command, thousands of spiders quickly threw themselves in Zero's way to buy her time and protect their unborn siblings.

Zero cussed when it suddenly rained spiders. Thankfully, Wii and Mii were very capable assistants. They paved a path for Zero and absorbed any spider that came close. The doctor was now only a few feet away from his target. Unknown to Penelope, he wasn't going to kill her. All he wanted, was to force a slavery contract on the mother Arachnoid and be done with this level.

Penelope prepared herself for the worst and sliced off her trapped leg so that she could move freely while defending against the brutal back attack. She would rather lose another leg or an eye than have her unlaid eggs hurt in her belly.

As she turned around and Zero approached closer, the spider queen threw up a spray of acid hoping that it would deter her opponent.

Zero was ready for this. Mii and Wii timed the area of absorption and took in all that deadly acid into Zero's unlimited inventory. The Spider Queen was shaken by the overwhelming difference in their ability and prepared to be slain. This was it, she only hoped that the backup would be able to deal with this monster of a mage.

Zero let go of one tonfa when he was close enough and silently chanted the spell needed to force a summoning contract on Penelope. With this, the contract would be sealed and Penelope will be a proud new member of Half Moon Village.

"With this contract and blood as a proof of our bond, I hereby grant you the name of Penelope, my summon!"

The dark cave was filled with a blinding light and Zero grinned brightly. After the light died down, the spiders were confused. Where was Penelope?

"Now," Zero smirked and turned to the scared spiders. "Let's clean up and move on, shall we?"